


Happy Birthday Polaris

by ImperiusRex



Category: Marvel, Marvel (Comics), Marvel 616
Genre: Anniversary, Birthday Fluff, Birthday Party, Dysfunctional Family, Family, Family Bonding, Family Feels, Family Fluff, Gen, X-men - Freeform, i meant to finish this ages ago but i am a slow potato, polaris's 50th anniversary, teammates, various x-men - Freeform, young avengers - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-02-27
Updated: 2019-02-27
Packaged: 2019-11-06 10:20:01
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,410
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17937971
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ImperiusRex/pseuds/ImperiusRex
Summary: It's Lorna's birthday, and her family has thrown her a surprise party, first she has to deal with the mysterious will that was supposedly left by her long dead aunt. Erik shows up at the final hour and Lorna has a long overdue talk with her father.[ Polaris's 50th Anniversary fic centers around her birthday and I meant to post this on her 50th comic year anniversary but it's late. ]





	Happy Birthday Polaris

**Happy Birthday Polaris**

 

The box wasn’t big.

Lorna could lift it with both hands easily and one hand with some difficulty and of course since the box was made of metal she could do a lot more with it. She could, with a single fleeting thought crush the box and all its contents.

That would be easier than opening it.

Lorna didn’t.

She didn’t pick it up or open it.

She sat on the floor of the old storage unit. The one she was sitting in front of was open but empty, not much left in it after she had donated all the contents to charity. Her aunt’s will had been discovered by her lawyers a few days ago, though her aunt had died a few years back no one had known about this storage unit until the will.

When Lorna got the call she was at home in New York, she was taking some time away from the x-men and x-factor. She needed some space and most of her friends had given it to her. Maybe it was because her birthday was coming up but somehow it felt like this was destiny. She sat now, cross legged, wearing her comfortable jeans and a shirt whose color was an eggshell white. The tank top showed off the slight muscles in her arms attesting to the fact that Lorna was powerful and it had nothing to do with her mutant gene for metal manipulation.

She stared at the box as if it was a bomb. What contents it held she couldn’t say. It could be nothing. It probably was. Nothing more than a few old papers maybe, or an old picture or two. She tucked back a strand of green hair that had come loose from her simple braid. It was then that she realized her hand was shaking.

This box wasn’t _nothing._

It was the **last** thing she had from her childhood; a piece of her mother, before she died. This was something that her mother Suzzana had left with Lorna’s aunt. Something that had been hidden away for years, it sat alone in a dark and dusty storage room. Lorna could sympathize with it. How many times had she felt like she was just sitting around waiting for something, or someone to come and find her? She learned though, that sitting and waiting wasn’t going to help her, waiting for someone to rescue her wasn’t going to happen. She had taken control of her own life and she should just open the damn box.

There probably wasn’t anything in there and she was getting herself all worked up over nothing. Maybe it had some old papers that her mom needed stored, she thought again. Maybe it was something more. Lorna’s mind ran through the possibilities again as she let her right hand hover over the box, she could _feel_ the metal. It wasn’t anything sinister, just metal. It wasn’t made of vibrainium or adamatium; those had a very different feel. Lorna pushed just a tiny bit of power out and made the box jiggle. Then it sat silent again. It was square, had a lock, and was a dull gray color. Nothing special. Then why wasn’t she opening it?

The lock wasn’t an issue, she could twist her fingers and it would come flying off.

Lorna realized that she was afraid. Afraid that once she opened this box the last of her childhood would just die. The old pain she felt over her mother and fathers… stepfather’s death came over her like a soft wind. The old regret, the old guilt, for years after finding out she would wake up in a cold sweat over the dream memory of their screaming as the plane tore apart at the seams. The feeling of falling and utter confusion she felt as her world was nothing more than twisting metal and flashes of green light.

This box represented a part of her past that had happened before the accident and Lorna didn’t want to taint it.

Maybe she should just open it later.

Lorna was just putting the box in a backpack when a fast wind whipped her braid around. Pietro stood before her. His white hair gleamed under the hall light. Her half-brothers blue eyes looked curiously at her pack but he didn’t ask.

“All finished I take it?” Lorna asked hoping that her voice didn’t betray the whirlwind of emotions in her.

“Yes, the last of the charity items were donated to a teen center, they were happy for the new furniture and the boxes of books.” He began to tap a floor impatiently as Lorna finished zipping up the back pack.

“You want me to give you a lift?”

“No,” Lorna replied, “I think we should just walk; besides you know that Billy, Wanda, and Tommy probably still need some time.”

“If you go in acting like that they’ll know that you know about the surprise party they were planning. They’ve been working at it for weeks now trying to invite everyone without letting you know about it. You know how hard that is? I just want to know how you knew?”

Lorna smiled slightly at Pietro’s irritated tone as they walked out into the sunshine and down the New York streets to where the others had been setting up a surprise party for Lorna’s birthday in her favorite restaurant.

“Come on, it’s going to drive me crazy Lorna. Was it Tommy? I bet it was, that kid can’t ever shut up always talking away at a mile a minute.”

“Reminds you of someone does he?” Lorna teased; the pack on her shoulder was feeling heavy even though she knew it wasn’t. The weight of her emotions were all that weighed it down.

Pietro shot her good natured glare but Lorna knew he didn’t mind the teasing, he and Tommy got along just fine but always pretending to be annoyed by the other.

“Fine, I’ll tell you but you can’t let her find out or she would be hurt. Luna accidentally let it slip the other day when she came to visit. Just don’t let her know I told you because she was worried that she ruined the surprise.”

Pietro shook his head, white hair falling slightly into his eyes as a corner of his lip tugged up. He didn’t say anything as he kept pace. Lorna knew he was itching to just run but the fact that he wasn’t rushing her meant a lot. She just need some breathing time before going to face everyone.

It wasn’t long before they reached the restaurant Pietro zipped ahead of her for a second to warn everyone before returning. When she stepped into the darkened room she feigned surprise when the lights came one and everyone screamed **HAPPY BIRTHDAY!**

Lorna swung Luna up in her arms for a hug and Luna whispered in her ear, “I know you weren’t surprised but thank you for pretending.”

“Anything for you kid.” Lorna whispered back before setting her down, she was getting too big to be thrown up in the air like she used to. Her blonde hair trailed behind her as she ran over to where Tommy and Billy were organizing presents on a table as more and more people came in the doors. People from her old teams, from the X-Men and X-Factor, and other heroes. Everyone who came in late wished her a Happy Birthday. Lorna accepted the gifts giving them to Tommy who zipped them over to the rest. Then people began to mingle as Forge finished setting up the Karaoke Machine.

Soon the entire restaurant which had been rented for the party had an atmosphere of revelry as many x team members who hadn’t seen each other in a long time got caught up with each other’s lives. It wasn’t always easy knowing what was going on with others when everyday had a new bad guy to fight or some new crisis to take care of.

Tommy zipped over followed by Wanda and Billy while Pietro took control behind the bar and started making drinks. He was fast as he took in drink orders and had them made up in a matter of seconds. Many people gathered to watch him move and get their drinks.

 “Aunt Lorna!” Tommy gave her a quick hug then stood back and began talking in super speed, “Lookatallthesepresentsbutrememberbillyandigotyouasharedgiftmainlybecasueicouldntmakeupmymindwhattogetyou-“

“Tommy! I think you are going just a little too fast.” Wanda said in a gently chiding voice that she usually used for Pietro. She smiled warmly at her half sister and said,” Happy Birthday Lorna. Sorry about the surprise, I was going to have something a little more with just family but you know how everyone loves to gossip.”

“Pietro told Remy who told Ororo who told Kitty who told Kurt who told Logan who told everyone because he got drunk and starting complaining about karaoke.” Billy helpfully supplied as he gave Lorna a hug like Tommy.

Lorna let out a laugh at the fact that Logan was the one who spilled the secret. She wouldn’t have expected it from him. She looked over to find the mutant being dragged on the small stage by Kurt who was going to get him to sing. Logan’s expression of pain made Lorna throw her head back and laugh.

“I fail to see the joke.” Danger said as she came up to Lorna. Lorna just shook her green hair out of her eyes and said, “Don’t worry about it Danger. Thanks for coming.”

“Human customs are still strange to me, though I know of parties I haven’t attended any this is a good opportunity to observe everyone where they aren’t training for battle.” Dangers monotone voice as she handed Lorna a small square gift and walked away.

Lorna looked over at Wanda who just shrugged and took the gift from Lorna holding it out for Tommy to zip by and place it with the rest. Billy had wandered off and the next few hours were full of bad singing, drinks, dancing , and laughter. It felt… nice and good. Lorna wasn’t worrying about some mutant crisis or about her place on the team, she want worried about her family because they were all here beside her, all her friends too. Soon enough Wanda was herding her into a chair as people gathered around the table. The lights were dimmed as Pietro brought out a large cake placing it before Lorna.

It was… beautiful. The icing was white and it had green candied butterflies decorating the border in different shades of green and sizes. Her name was in the middle and the number of candles on the cake counted up to fifty.

Lorna shot a glare at Pietro who smirked and said, “Hey your birthday and a few extra candles for good luck.”

“Well let’s hope I’m really lucky then.”

Everyone sang happy birthday to her and Lorna remembered the last time she felt all this emotion just welling up inside her, it had been so long. Her aunt had been nice of course and she loved Lorna with all her heart but her birthdays had never been the same after the incident. Now she was a grown woman but she felt like a kid, her face heated with some unexplainable feeling of fullness and happiness. At the end of the song she closed her eyes, and made a wish. Everyone went quiet at the end of the song.

Opening her glittering green eyes in the silence she blew out every single candle.

Their clapping made Lorna give a small smile before saying in a slightly cracking voice, “Ok ok enough people let’s just have some cake ok?”

A small hug from Wanda and then Lorna was pulled out on to a cleared area where the tables had been pushed off to side for dancing. Billy and Tommy made her laugh with their antics, then she held Luna’s hand while twirling in a circle like a ballerina. TJ Wagner popped by to wish her a happy birthday before going over to sit with her father Kurt, Lorna knew that she was her niece from another dimension but they hadn’t ever talked before, still it was nice to have the whole family in one place. Well almost all the family, Lorna didn’t say anything but she didn’t miss the fact that Magneto wasn’t there. Instead she did something she hadn’t done in a long while, she had fun. Just dancing and laughing with her fellow x-men as Remy took her hand and swept her into a dance Lorna threw back her head just gave over to the feeling of celebration letting her worries take a backseat.

All too soon it felt, people were slowly leaving the party, one by one or sometimes in groups, heroes left, some went on patrol, others had urgent calls for help, and some just simply tired went home to sleep.

It was almost dawn in a few hours, finally they had most of everyone gone, only Pietro and Lorna had stayed behind. Remy was there too, sleeping in a booth after losing a drinking contest Logan. Wanda had magicked the presents and the kids back to Lorna’s home a few hours ago, they would be sleeping over and tomorrow, well now later that day, Lorna would be spending some quality time with her niece and nephews.

“He is utterly useless.” Pietro grumbled about Remy as the speedster set about cleaning up, he quickly got most of the floor cleared, Lorna stayed at the bar to drink and he kept swinging by to top up her glass. She had tried to offer him some help with cleaning but Pietro turned her down saying it was more efficient and faster if he did it. The backpack with the metal case sat in the stool next to her as she slowly drank another glass of whiskey. Pietro finishes and gathers Remy in his arms, “I’m going to take him home, I’ll be back to pick you up.”

“Don’t bother, I can call a taxi.” Lorna stands and gives Pietro a hug, careful not to squish the man in his arms, “Thanks for everything Pietro.”

“Happy Birthday Lorna, I’ll see you tomorrow and if you need me…”

“I’ll call.”

Pietro zooms off and Lorna waits a beat before calling out to the hidden figure who was in the back room where the booze was stored, “He is gone now, you can come out of hiding.”

Erik Lensherr stepped out. He wore his usual Magneto outfit minus the helmet which hovered behind him. He was… imposing, large, and if Lorna hadn’t lost her fear of him long ago she would have been intimidated, yet now she just returns to her stool, pouring herself another glass of whiskey.

Magneto sits next to her, the backpack between them, and sets his helmet down on the wooden counter, “I was not hiding, merely awaiting a moment for privacy.”

Lorna takes a drink, doesn’t offer him any, and taps the edge of her glass as she looks over at his profile, the white hair had slight streaks of grey in it, he has a slight stubble of grey beard, and he has far more wrinkles than she remembers.

“Well its private now.”

He doesn’t ask how she knew he was there, it was the same way he knew where to find her if he wanted her. They both gave off a slight magnetic pulse, on a different frequency from each other, which was unique and could be tuned into. It was how they could find other metals no matter where it was in the area around them.

“I haven’t opened your gift.”

Erik glances at her, before standing to reach over the counter for a glass, sitting he grabs the bottle and pours himself a drink.

“I didn’t give you a gift.”

Lorna snorts. She twists her fingers and the metal zipper on the backpack slides open, then with a little more finger wiggling she moves the metal box to the counter to set it down with a clunk. Raising a green eyebrow, she picks up her cup and drinks without turning her emerald eyes away from him. His expression was enough to tell her she was right. That Erik had engineered the finding of the will and it being on her birthday.

“I wanted you to have something… of hers.”

She sets down the glass with a _thunk_ , anger is just below the surface of her skin, after all these years he had never brought up her mother, and now he wants to?

“Why? You never showed any interest in talking about my mother, or my past until it was convenient for you. So tell me, what is it you want from me this time?”

He sighs, his shoulders moving with the exaggerated breath, “A man can’t want his daughter to have a keepsake?”

“Not if it comes with strings.”

He looks at her, holding her eyes for a moment, _he is so old_ , Lorna thinks.

“No strings… just… you lost a lot in the accident. I know how it feels to lose things, family treasures… pictures. I wanted you to have something.”

She isn’t gonna cry dammit, she won’t show tears though her eyes become blurry, Lorna knows what he is talking about even if he won’t say it. He could never bring up his childhood unless it was in rage. She had been robbed, so had Pietro, and Wanda, and so many countless others, robbed of their history, of their families, of their… keepsakes. It wasn’t fair, but the world wasn’t fair. Erik finishes his drink.

“Besides, I’ve kept it long enough.”

The lid of the metal box slams open; she had done it quickly, and with the smallest thought. She looks away from Erik, and peers inside, it takes her a moment, her tears were on the verge of slipping and she tries to blink them back. Inside was a few papers, letters between Erik and Suzzana. There were photos of her mother, smiling, sitting, reading a book, on a walk. There was one picture at the bottom, it was worn, as though someone had taken it out many times to look at. It was her mother, holding a small baby… it was her. Lorna recognized the blanket she had as a baby since it was one that her aunt had in pictures as well. Her mother looked so warm, happy… soft. Water dotted the picture, horrified she tries to gently wipe it off to not let it mess it up. A napkin is now in her view, an old scarred hand holds it, she takes it, and blots her tears. Dammit she was supposed to be hard, strong, and not all weepy especially not in front of her father.

They sit in silence. Lorna shifts through the box, slowly taking out small things, like movie ticket stubs, a ring, and then she finds it. A picture with Erik and Suzzana together, they were looking at each other, as though someone else had taken the picture, they looked so young and happy.

“Will you tell me about her?”

Erik clears his throat, he shifts in his seat and then settles.

“We weren’t together long, your step father and mother had been going through a separation, and I did not know she was married, but… it wouldn’t have changed how I felt. She was… bright, like the sun, and she was the first light I had in my life since Magda…

So they sit together, father and daughter, Erik’s deep voice is soothing as he speaks about Suzzana, as though he had been waiting years to talk about her, and Lorna felt as though she had been waiting years to hear about her, the real her, not the watered down memories she had held onto for so long. They spoke into the night, and for once she didn't feel like she was the daughter of Magneto, no she was just Lorna Dane, daughter of Erik and Suzzana.

As the new day dawns Lorna feels better than she did before, she leaves Erik and steps out into the street as the morning sun stretches across the city, the metal box secured in her backpack feels lighter now. A new day, a new look on life, and some old keepsakes to remember the past.

 

**Author's Note:**

> Happy belated 50th Anniversary Lorna Dane!!!
> 
> Comments and Kudos are always appreciated.


End file.
